Prep Review / Steve Scott : Morse to Discover How Much It Has Improved Since Opener

The Morse High School boys basketball team began the 1984-85 season with an 89-51 loss to Poway.

The Tigers will learn just how far they have come when they play their final game in San Diego this season against the Titans. Morse (15-6) will face Poway (23-1) in the CIF San Diego Section 3-A championship game at 8:30 Wednesday night in the San Diego Sports Arena.

The winner advances to the Southern California Regionals at the Los Angeles Sport Arena.

“I knew when I scheduled that opening game with Poway that we’d see them again later in the season,” Morse Coach Ron Davis said. “I felt we have improved by the loss. We improve more by the losses than the victories.”

And improving by losing may be why Morse is in the title game. Morse beat No. 2 Patrick Henry, 71-64, on Friday in the semifinals. The Tigers had lost to the Patriots twice during the regular season.

“I think most people wanted to see Patrick Henry play Poway,” Davis said. “We’ve been underrated all season. People think we have a talented team, that we’re a bunch of leapers. But they don’t realize that we’re an intelligent team.

“You can’t get as far as we have unless you can play smart, fundamental basketball.”

Davis was impressed with the way Poway played in its 70-64 semifinal victory against Sweetwater on Saturday.

“They have five or six guys who can lead them any given night,” Davis said. “The big guy (John Colborne) is going to get his points. You’ve got to stop the other guys. They have pretty good balance.”

Davis said he enjoys being the underdog in the title game. Morse wasn’t favored when it beat Monte Vista in the first round, 76-57, or against Patrick Henry.

“We have to play smart,” Davis said. “We’re not going to alter our game just because its Poway.”

Add Morse: Following Poway’s win against Sweetwater on Saturday, Titan forward Jud Buechler said the team really had no preference over who it would face in the championship game. Buechler, however, said he was glad to be playing Morse.

“Now, Johnny (Colborne, Poway’s center) doesn’t have to have that matchup against (Patrick Henry’s) Howard Wright,” Buechler said. “Everybody keeps saying, who’s better Johnny or Howard? Now, Johnny doesn’t have to play with that pressure hanging over him.”

Title schedule: The rest of Wednesday’s basketball championship schedule at the San Diego Sports Arena is as follows:

In the girls 2-A game at 2:30 p.m., University (21-3) will try to stop El Camino (25-1) and the county’s all-time leading scorer, Sharon Turner. Last season’s girls 2-A champion, Point Loma (24-0), will play for the 3-A title against Fallbrook (20-4) at 4:30 p.m.

Oceanside (18-6), the second-place finisher in the Avocado League, will try to defend its boys 2-A title against Mission Bay (19-5), the City Western League champion at 6:30 p.m.

Crowd noise: Despite El Capitan’s 77-69 loss to Sweetwater on Wednesday, the Vaquero supporters did all they could to spark their team to an upset victory at Sweetwater High in National City.

But having seen a final comeback thwarted by 10 straight Sweetwater points in the fourth quarter, the El Capitan fans decided to gain a victory for themselves.

Unable to justify proclaiming the Vaqueros No. 1 any longer, the fans from Lakeside stood together and chanted to the Sweetwater supporters across the gym: “We’ve got a rodeo, yes we do. We’ve got a rodeo. How ‘bout you?”

The South Bay area fans had no immediate comment.

When things go well: Saturday night was just one of those nights for Poway’s Jud Buechler. He had just scored six points in the final two minutes of the third quarter to give the Titans a commanding 57-46 lead over Sweetwater in the 3-A semifinal game.

With 53 seconds gone in the fourth quarter and Poway about to inbound the ball after a Sweetwater basket, play was stopped because the net had become tangled around the rim. Encouraged by a cheering Sweetwater crowd, Sweetwater guard Larry Willson tried twice to leap and untangle the net, but failed each time.

As Willson backed off after his second attempt, Buechler quietly stepped forward and, of course, untangled the net on his first leap. Buechler received a standing ovation from most of the Poway faithful.

Wrestling finals: Valhalla had three individual winners in the CIF wrestling finals on Saturday at El Camino High. Mark Gerardi (141 pounds) decisioned Poway’s Trace Smith, 14-2, Richard Bailey (129) beat Poway’s John Sargent, 5-2, and Vic Gerardi defeated El Camino’s George Oakley.

El Cajon and El Camino each had two winners. The top three wrestlers in each weight class advanced to the California state tournament to be held on March 1 and 2 at Stockton.